Tbnt office



Boats;

Patented THE NORRIS PETERS cm, wasnmqron, n, c,

4 SheetseShget 2.

. J.L. LAY. H Electro-Magnefiic Steering Apparatus for Submarine Boats.

No. 198,127. Patented Dec. 11, I877;

4 sneezs-sheen3. J. L. LAY.

Eleotro-Magnetid Steering Apparatus for Submarine v Boats. No. 198,127. Patented Dec. 11,1877

Iii/126mm. v fame/d0)? rm: NaRRIs PETERS ca, wnsnmomlv, n. c

4 S'heets-Sheet 4.

Electro-Magnetio Steering Apparatus for' Submarine Boats. 7 3 No. 198,127. I Patented Dec.' 11,l877.

Wrzemafj I 0/ g Q fiweizim: @W 4 Y6? rn: NORRIS PETERS (20., WASHINGTON, u. c.

I fade in the county of UNITED STATES PAT-ENT OFFIc-n;

JOHN L. LAY, or B FFA O, new man.-

lurncvtusui lNfELECTRO-MAGNETIC STEERING APPARATUS.'FOR SUBMABINEIBOATSI.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l9 8,l27,' dated December 11, 1877 application filed April 20, 1314.

Toallwhom'it concern! 'Be' it known that I JoHN'L, LAY, oiiBufhirie and State'of New Yoriqhaye invented new and useful Improvements in Boats Intended for Submarine Opera tions, of which the. following is a specificaion: 7

This inventicn'relates to a boat for s'uhma tine-operations, andhas for its object the pro-. 'pulsion of such a boat by condensed gases, preferably such as underpressure become liquids, 'actin g by their-expansion upon an em. gine and; driving a propeller t and also the steering'of-such a boat. from the shoreo'r other fixed point from which it is dispatched, by

.means of an: electric current acting on an I electromagnetic apparatus, s'o that the helm may, bymeans of positi e mechanism, be set andheld in onecf the hrce positions of port, starboard, orsteady, atthe will of the operagar, and to this end myinvention consists in providing for the regular paying. out of the in- 'sulated wire cable from a" submerged boat, by

fc'onstructing the boat with a compartment filled with water and containing the cablered, and having an opening in the bottom "for:

the escape ofthe cable as the vessel progresses;

also, tothe same end, in providing appropriatemean's for transmitting an elect-rical cur-' rent through the insulated wire carried oiythe submerged-cahle-reel from a battery on shore t0 electr c-magnetic apparatus carried oil-said- ,..-boat, such current passing from the compart- "ment filled with water to the parts of the boat 7 from which .the grater is excluded; also, in providing means for automatically maintainingthe uniform specific grayityof-the 'hoat by the regulated admission of water .to'suitable compartment-s, to compensate for the loss of weight incident to the paying out of the cable and theconsumption of the material 1 from which thepo'wer is derived; a1so,'in pro'- Yiding guides for indicating the-position and direction oithesubmerged boat 'tothe operator 'on shore, and alsoin so constructing such'guides-that they niay also serve for .es-v. cape-pipes for the gas and air discharged from the interior of z the boat, also,- iu sundiyspecial combinations of parts connected ,with the de-' tail 'of the construction of the driving and steering apparatus,which will beparticularly indicated in the following descriptionand claims. a

in the annexed drawings the boat represented' as divided into sections io're and aft,

' zontally andvertically. y Figure 1" is a vertical section through the.

.2 is a; horizontal sect-ion of the. same. '3 is a vertical central-section of, the aft-section 30f the'boat. Fig. 4 is ahorizontal section of the same. Fig. -5"is a' vertical section ofthe reel-cha n her, showing the means for maintaining' au'electrica-l connection between the sub-I merged cable on the reel and the connecting-J wires onvthe b0at. Fig. 6 is a plan,'show ingthe relative'arrangement oi the electrical'apf paratus' on shore and-.onthe boat.

1 The hull is of the forin';commonly cal-ledcigar-shaped}? tapering to; a point fore and aft, and having a'propeller-shaft carrying a I screw-propeller projectingfrom the sterm-where it is carried through a stuffing-box. The propeller-is operated by any-suitable engine. I

prefer to use asthe motive power the expan .sion of ,a, substance, which,.in its normal state,

is a gas, but which, under pressure; is .convert'ed intoa liquid, and so remains until the pressure is relieved, when it resumes its gase' ous form. Regarding, carbonic acldas the The liquid carbonic acid, in passing from ts liquid state to the gaseous form, loses; its'latent heat so rapidly that, if the. operation takes place rapidly, the liquid inclo's'ed in its containiugs vessel. will he solidified, and in that-condition gives off the gets too slowly-forthe purpose here required} To avoid this difliculty, Line connect with the eduetion pi p'e and as the evaporation from each will be sl H 'p'erature in eacl v'es'sel will be kept above the point pf congelation. To'the same end the eduction-pip'e eo'm'eying the gas fron'rthe ves selscmust'be wamnethf This maybe done by {carrying the pipe through the hull, and, leads 'ing' it through i the surrounding water; .or zit and these sections are further divided horicenter of the forward section-0f the boat; Fig;

most suitable for this purpose, I-havefillus" trated an'apparatus adapted forthat'purpose.

close it in'a number of close yessels- -say, from ten"to"twenty,'or even more. j Theseivesselsj' ow the temother fixed point from which it is dispatched.

net-ic mechanism operated by means of an incompartmentD. 'Thisplug,ofcourse,revolves pertinent I) there is an insulated copper point,

'F. The binding-screw b on the relay is atand carbon poles of the battery. A wire, a,

placed in the water, and forming t ened onto the vulcanite cylinder turned by the with the journals of the cylinder, and through may be-heated by alcohol or other lamps. The i former means lhave found adequate, for the e. I I i104 The boat-must he steered from the shore or This I accomplish by means of an electro-magsulated wire in a small telegraphic cable. This cable is carried on a submerged reel, placed in a tight compartment, B, in the middle of the boat in the bottom -of which is a transversely-elongated opening through the hull, for the free escape of the cable. The reel is suspended on anti-friction journals, supported on the lateral bulk-heads of the said compartment.

[have adopted the following meansfor transmittin g the electric current from the cable to the electromagnetic apparatus carried in the boat: On one end of the shaft of the reel 0 is a chamber, 9, into which the insulated wire E is extended, passing througlra watertight standing-box, w, and fastened to an insulated plug, I, screwed into the tube g, and projecting through the stuffing-box h into the dry with the reel as the cable is paid out. In comy, sustained by a spring, 2, which presses the point 3 against the revolving plug I and, ac- 'commodating itself to the lateral motion of the shaft of the reel, maintains a continuous electrical circuit from the cable E to the insulated wire q inside the boat, one end of which is attached, by the binding-screw L, to the relay tnched to the carbon pole of a battery, H, connected with the relay, and operatingv the electro-magnets M" and M by means of wires attached to the binding-screws a and d on the relay. Another wire, f, attached by the hinding-screw G, connects the relay with a plate, U, in the submerged compartment B, thus forming one ground-wire for the circuit. The armature A is a steel magnet.

The circuit is completed by means of the cable E, the outer end of which is fastened, by the screw L, to the pole changer connected with the shore-battery B, Fig. 6. Any form of pole-changer may be used. I have illustrated one form, in which the connection with the battery is made by wires attached by screws z and 0, respectively connected with the zinc attached to the screws 1, extends to a plate, I,

e other ro d-wire. The pole-changer is duplicated n Tug. 6, to indicate the two positions of the crank which shifts the poles. This ole-changer consists of two ,inetallic plates, 0', fastcrank. h, so as to connect alternately with the plates S and S, connected, respectively, as indicated by dotted lines, with the carbon and zinc poles of the shore-battery B, and also,

these with the cable and ground-wire. l

The two electro-magnets M" and M" are placed with their poles opposed 'in the ordi nary manner, having a soft-iron armature, A, placed midway between them, oscillating on a vertical rod hinged below, to which it is attached, sons to be drawn to one magnet or the other as they are electrized by positive or negative currents transmitted through the coils. The vertical rod to which the armature is attached extends through the sliding rod 20 slotted to receive it. This rod slides in bearings a a", and V0 it are attached springs, thetension of which will maintain the armature midway between the magnets when neither of them are charged. It also carr'iesa pin,r, Fig; 3, which is inserted in the slot in the crank-arm v of the valve-stem m, carrying the rotary valve 12, which operates in the three-ported valveseat of the valve-chests. The gas is admitted to the ports in the chest :2: through a pipe, t, on the top thereof.. The ports areas!) arranged that when the armature rests in" its midway position the education-ports of both ends of the cylinder will be open, so that all the gas may escape and entirely relieve the piston from pressure. The valve-chestaris attached to the cylinder 7:, having a pistonhead and rods r r extending through each head. To these rods 1' r cords t tare respectively attached. These cords are connected from each side to the tiller t, thereby actuating the rudder in the movement to port or starboard. .Another tiller, 5, is attached on the opposite side of the rudder-post, and springs S S are con nected therewith to bring the rudder to the amidships position of steadyfl when both tiller-ropes are relaxed, and at the same time, by the reversed act-ion of the ropes, bringing the piston-head back to the middle of the cylinder.

The mode of operation is as follows: The boat bein loaded so as to'sink to the desired depth, 'an so as to be horizontal fore and aft, the loss of weight from the paying out of the cable and the consumption of the liquid used in propelling it having been carefully detersnined, the valve for admitting water to the tank must be accurately arranged, to admit it fast enough to compensate for the loss of specific gravity. The cable E being attached to the pole-changer, and the boat properly headed in the designated direction, the machinery for propelling it is to be: started and the boat tightly closed. The operator, standing at the po e-changer, holds the cranlr vertically so as to permit the springs to hold the rudder at steady. Watching the guides, if necessary, with a powerful telescope, 1f the leading guide turnstoone side or theother, hepromptly meets the deflection with the rudder. crank is turned to the right, as shown in Fig. 6, the current will flow from the carbon pole of the battery and through the connectingwire and contiguous surfaces 0 s, and the jourrial opposite to the crank to the cable E attached to the pole-changer. This currentwill act on the relay-magnets M and M. The ar- Thus, ifthe mature, being of steel and permanently magnetized, is held midway between the magnets by a spring, (not -shown;) but when the magnets are rendered active by the transmission of positive or negative currents, as the case may be, it will be repelled by the magnet having corresponding p larit-y, and attracted by the one havin opposite polarity.

will set the helm to, say, port, and there it will be held as long as this circuit is maintained.

If the crank h is then turned upward the current will be out, the magnets become neutral, and the springs bringthe armatures back to their midwaypositions, and the helm to steady.

It, now, the crank b is turned to the left, the

reverse action of the currents will be established, the magnet M will attract the armature A, and the boat-battery magnetize the magnet 11, and cause the helmto be brought to starboard, where it will be held as long as from said compartmentto a pointoutside of the boat, and adapted to being payed out with the tin-ward movementof the boat thronglr an opening under the surface of the water, substai'itially as set forth.

2. ln'eombinaiion with a submerged reel, and telegraphic cable carried thin-eon, and magnetic apparatus to be connected through said cable, an insulated termination of such cable revolving with the reel, and an insulated connection for the internal system of wires held in contact therewith, for the transmission of electric currents, substantially in thcmannor Set forth.

3. In combination with the-reel C, the pipe 9, insulated plug I, point 1/, and wire .q, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the parts last aforesaid, the spring 2, for maintaining the con tact of the plug and point, and at the same time allowing the free. lateral motion of the reel and shaft.

5, In combination with a submerged boat,

and means for steering the same from, a point outside of the boat, guides for indicating the position and direction ofsueh boat.

6. In combination with a propelling-engine, constructed to operate by the expansion of a substance which, while, a gas in its normal state, becomes a liquid under compression, a series of vessels for earl-yin g the same,

substantially such as set forth.

7 In combination with such engine and vessels, an induction-pipe for conveying the gas from the vessels to the engine, led out side'of the boat, and exposed to the warmer water, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In combination with the electro-magnets M ZM, the armature aml springs ibrholding it in its intermediate position, the sliding arm, crank, and valve-rod, and rotary or oscillating valve, for regulating the admission of the gas or vapor used in moving the piston which aetuates the rudder.

9. In combination with the rudder and tiller,

and electromagnetic apparatus for operating the same froma, point outside of the boat, springs for bringing the rudder to steady when the magnets are inactive.

.10. In combination with a submarine boat and its steering apparatus, an insulated wire for conveying an electric current from a pointoutside of said boat,-an electromagnetic apparatus for operating a piston to set the rudder at port or starboard, and independent mechanism for bringing it back from,

either of said positions to steady.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN L. LAY.

Witnesses:

1%. Mason, B. Row. J. Ems. 

